Wireless access point to control wireless user data exchanges through wireless relays

ABSTRACT

A wireless access point wirelessly exchanges user data with a Radio Access Network (RAN). The RAN comprises multiple wireless relays that wirelessly exchange the user data with multiple wireless user devices based on individual relay data thresholds. The wireless access point determines individual amounts of the wireless user devices served by individual wireless relays. The wireless access point ranks the wireless relays based on the amounts of wireless user devices. The wireless access point assigns individual relay data thresholds to the wireless relays based on the ranking. Higher-loaded wireless relays are assigned higher data thresholds than lower-loaded wireless relays. The wireless relays wirelessly exchange additional user data with the wireless user devices based on the assigned relay data thresholds.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

Data communication systems exchange user data for user devices toprovide various data communication services. The user devices may bephones, computers, media players, and the like. The data communicationservices might be media streaming, audio/video conferencing, datamessaging, or internet access. Wireless communication networks aredeployed to extend the range and mobility of these data communicationservices.

The typical wireless communication network has several macro-cell basestations that provide radio coverage over large urban areas. Themacro-cell base stations may still not be able to cover every part ofthe urban area with enough capacity. Outside of the urban areas, themacro-cell base stations may be too large for environments likeinter-state highways and smaller towns. Wireless relays are deployed toalleviate these problems.

A wireless relay has a wireless access point to wirelessly communicatewith user devices. The wireless relay also has wireless Relay Equipment(RE) to wirelessly communicate with macro-cell base stations or otherrelays. Thus, the macro-cell base stations serve both user devices andwireless relays, and the wireless relays also serve both user devicesand wireless relays.

A Radio Access Network (RAN) made of wireless relays has a finite amountof data throughput and wireless resources. The actual data throughputand wireless resources are largely driven by the attached User Equipment(UEs). The data throughput and wireless resources used by each UE areaggregated to become the data throughput and wireless resources used bythe wireless relay. The wireless resources may comprise CarrierAggregation (CA) links. The CA links comprise a Primary ComponentCarrier (PCC) for network signaling and user data. The CA links includeSecondary Component Carriers (SCCs) for additional user data. In somecases, the relay UE also uses CA for its network access.

Unfortunately, the wireless access points do not effectively andefficiently assign data thresholds and wireless resources to thewireless relays in the RAN.

TECHNICAL OVERVIEW

A wireless access point wirelessly exchanges user data with a RadioAccess Network (RAN). The RAN comprises multiple wireless relays thatwirelessly exchange the user data with multiple wireless user devicesbased on individual relay data thresholds. The wireless access pointdetermines individual amounts of the wireless user devices served byindividual wireless relays. The wireless access point ranks the wirelessrelays based on the amounts of wireless user devices. The wirelessaccess point assigns individual relay data thresholds to the wirelessrelays based on the ranking. Higher-loaded wireless relays are assignedhigher data thresholds than lower-loaded wireless relays. The wirelessrelays wirelessly exchange additional user data with the wireless userdevices based on the assigned relay data thresholds.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-2 illustrate a wireless communication network with a wirelessaccess point that wirelessly exchanges user data with a radio accessnetwork.

FIGS. 3-4 illustrate a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network with amacro-cell eNodeB that wirelessly exchanges user data with wirelessrelays.

FIG. 5 illustrates an eNodeB 500 to wirelessly exchange user data withwireless relays.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-2 illustrate wireless communication network 100 with wirelessaccess point 120 that wirelessly exchanges user data with Radio AccessNetwork (RAN) 110. RAN 110 wirelessly exchanges user data with multiplewireless user devices based on individual data thresholds for eachrelay. The wireless user data exchanges support data services such ascontent streaming, media conferencing, machine communications, internetaccess, or some other computerized information service.

Referring to FIG. 1, wireless communication network 100 comprisesseveral wireless user devices. The wireless user devices comprisecomputers, phones, or some other intelligent machines with RFcommunication components. Wireless communication network 100 alsocomprises RAN 110 and wireless access point 120. RAN 110 compriseswireless relays 111-115. Wireless access point 120 includes wirelesstransceiver system 121, network transceiver system 122, and dataprocessing system 123.

Wireless relays 111-115 each comprise a base station and Relay Equipment(RE). Wireless relays 111-115 are made of computer hardware like CentralProcessing Units (CPUs), Random Access Memory (RAM), persistent datastorage, bus interfaces, and data transceivers. The data transceiversinclude antennas, amplifiers, filters, and digital signal processors forwireless data communication. Wireless relays 111-115 also have computersoftware like an operating system, baseband modules, networking modules,and network applications.

Wireless access point 120 could be a base station, evolved Node B,computer, network appliance, or some other intelligent machine with RFcommunication components. Wireless access point 120 is made of computerhardware like data communication transceivers, bus interfaces, CPUs,RAM, and data storage. Wireless transceiver system 121 includesantennas, amplifiers, filters, and digital signal processors forwireless data communication. Wireless access point 120 has computersoftware like an operating system, baseband modules, networking modules,and network applications.

In operation, the wireless user devices exchange wireless user data withwireless relays 111-115. Wireless relays 113-114 exchange a portion ofthe wireless user data with each other. Wireless relays 112-113 exchangea portion of the wireless user data with each other. Wireless relays 112and 115 exchange a portion of the wireless user data with wireless relay111. Wireless relay 111 and wireless transceiver system 121 exchange thewireless user data with each other. Wireless transceiver system 121 andnetwork transceiver system 122 exchange the user data, and networktransceiver system 122 exchanges the user data with other systems.

Data processing system 123 determines individual amounts of wirelessuser devices that are served by individual wireless relays 111-115. Forexample, wireless relay 114 may currently serve five wireless userdevices. In some examples, the device amounts comprise Long TermEvolution (LTE) Radio Resource Control (RRC) connections. The deviceamounts may also include the downstream wireless user devices that areserved by downstream wireless relays. For example, the five wirelessuser devices served by wireless relay 114 would be included in thedevice amount for wireless relay 113 because wireless relay 113 serveswireless relay 114.

Data processing system 123 ranks wireless relays 111-115 based on theirindividual amounts of wireless user devices. Data processing system 123then assigns individual data thresholds to wireless relays 111-115 basedon their ranking. The highly-loaded wireless relays are assigned tohigher data thresholds, and the lightly-loaded wireless relays areassigned to lower data thresholds. In RAN 110, the data thresholds maybe fixed and pre-configured for each load ranking. Wireless relays111-115 then exchange additional wireless user data with the wirelessuser devices based on these newly assigned data thresholds.

Data processing system 123 also determines individual amounts ofwireless communication resources allocated to individual wireless relays111-115. The wireless communication resources may comprise OrthogonalFrequency Division Multiplex (OFDM) resource blocks, wireless bandwidth,Carrier Aggregation (CA) component carriers, or some other networkingallocation. For example, wireless relay 113 may get four secondarycomponent carriers from wireless relay 112, but wireless relay 114 mayonly get two secondary component carriers from wireless relay 113.

Wireless access point 120 may also determine individual amounts ofwireless communication congestion experienced by individual wirelessrelays 111-115. Relay congestion might be measured by radio resourceusage, relay buffer status, relay CPU occupancy, and the like. Wirelessaccess point 120 ranks wireless relays 111-115 based their individualamounts of wireless congestion. Wireless access point 120 assignsindividual amounts of the wireless communication resources to wirelessrelays 111-115 based on their congestion ranking. Highly-congestedwireless relays are assigned more communication resources thanlower-congested wireless relays. In RAN 110, a wireless resource amountmay be fixed and pre-configured for each congestion ranking. Wirelessrelays 111-115 wirelessly exchange additional user data with thewireless user devices based on their newly assigned wirelesscommunication resources.

Referring to FIG. 2, wireless transceiver system 121 and RAN 110exchange wireless user data (201). In RAN 110, wireless relay 111 andwireless relays 112 and 115 exchange wireless user data (202). Wirelessrelay 112 and wireless relay 113 exchange wireless user data (202).Wireless relay 113 and wireless relay 114 exchange wireless user data(202). Wireless relays 111-115 and wireless user devices exchange thewireless user data (202). Wireless relays 111-115 use individual relaydata thresholds to limit their data throughput.

Data processing system 123 in wireless access point 120 determinesindividual amounts of wireless user devices served by individualwireless relays 111-115 (203). In some examples, the amounts comprisenumbers of LTE RRC connections. The amounts typically include downstreamwireless user devices that are served by downstream wireless relays.

Data processing system 123 ranks wireless relays 111-115 based on theirindividual amounts of wireless user devices (204). Data processingsystem 123 assigns individual data thresholds to wireless relays 111-115based on their ranking (205). A date structure could be used to mapdevice-load rankings to data thresholds. The highly-loaded wirelessrelays are assigned to higher data thresholds, and the lightly-loadedwireless relays are assigned to lower data thresholds. Wireless relays111-115 wirelessly exchange additional user data with the wireless userdevices based on these newly assigned data thresholds (206).

FIGS. 3-4 illustrate Long Term Evolution (LTE) network 300 with amacro-cell eNodeB 320 that wirelessly exchanges user data with wirelessrelays 311-312. Wireless relays 311-312 comprise pico-cell relays, andwireless relays 313-314 comprise femto-cell relays. The macro, pico, andfemto designations represent relative size and capacity. User Equipment(UEs) wirelessly exchange user data with wireless relays 311-314 andmacro-cell eNodeB 320. Femto-cell wireless relays 311-312 wirelesslyexchange their user data with pico-cell wireless relays 313-314.Pico-cell wireless relays 311-312 wirelessly exchange the user data withmacro-cell eNodeB 320. Macro-cell eNodeB 320 exchanges the user datawith other systems.

Macro-cell eNodeB 320 determines the UE load on each wireless relay. Forexample, femto-cell relay 313 has a two UE load, and pico-cell relay 311has a five UE load (including the two UEs served by relay 313).Macro-cell eNodeB 320 assigns data thresholds to wireless relays 311-314based on their UE load rank. Wireless relays 311-314 exchange additionalwireless user data with the wireless user devices based on these newlyassigned data thresholds. For example, the RE may enforce a datathreshold limit in wireless relay 313. Likewise, the ENB in relay 311will also enforce the data threshold for wireless relay 313.

Macro-cell eNodeB 320 also determines amounts of wireless communicationresources allocated to individual wireless relays 311-314. The wirelesscommunication resources comprise Carrier Aggregation (CA) SecondaryComponent Carriers. For example, wireless relay 312 may get four CA SCCsfrom macro-cell eNodeB 320, but wireless relay 314 may only get two CASCCs from wireless relay 312.

Macro-cell eNodeB 320 also determines individual amounts of congestionexperienced by wireless relays 311-314. Relay congestion is measured byrelay buffer status. Macro-cell eNodeB 320 ranks wireless relays 311-314based their congestion. Macro-cell eNodeB 320 then assigns CA SCCs towireless relays 311-314 based on their congestion ranking. Wirelessrelays 311-314 wirelessly exchange additional user data with the UEsbased on their newly assigned wireless communication resources.

FIG. 4 illustrates eNodeB 320 to wirelessly exchange user data withwireless relays. eNodeB 320 includes data structures 421-422. Relay datathreshold data structure 421 has three columns: wireless relay ID, UEload, and data threshold. The rows are in descending rank and the rowscorrelate data by rank. For example, wireless relay 313 is ranked 3^(rd)and has a UE load of two and a data threshold of 3.2 MB/s. Relay CarrierAggregation (CA) control data structure 422 has three columns: wirelessrelay ID, relay congestion, and CA SCCs. The rows are in descending rankand the rows correlate the data by rank. For example, wireless relay 311is ranked 2^(nd) and has a relay congestion of 60% and four CA SCCs.

The third column of data structures 421-422 is typically fixed as thedata in the first two columns is loaded by rank. Macro-cell eNodeB 320uses data structures 421-422 to determine data thresholds and resourcesfor individual wireless relays.

FIG. 5 illustrates eNodeB 500 to wirelessly exchange user data withwireless relays. eNodeB 500 is an example of wireless access point 120and eNodeB 320, although these base stations may use alternativeconfigurations and operations. eNodeB 500 comprises data communicationinterface 501 and data processing system 502. Data communicationinterface 501 comprises Long Term Evolution (LTE) transceivers 521-522and Ethernet transceivers 523-524. Data processing system 502 comprisesprocessing circuitry 503 and storage system 504. Storage system 504stores software 505. Software 505 includes respective software modules506-510.

LTE transceivers 521-522 comprise communication components, such asantennas, amplifiers, filters, modulators, signal processors, ports, businterfaces, memory, software, and the like. Ethernet transceivers523-524 comprise communication components, such as ports, businterfaces, signal processors, memory, software, and the like.Processing circuitry 503 comprises server blades, circuit boards, businterfaces, CPUs, integrated circuitry, and associated electronics.Storage system 504 comprises non-transitory, machine-readable, datastorage media, such as flash drives, disc drives, memory circuitry,servers, and the like. Software 505 comprises machine-readableinstructions that control the operation of processing circuitry 503 whenexecuted.

Wireless relay eNodeB 500 may be centralized or distributed. All orportions of software 506-510 may be externally stored on one or morestorage media, such as circuitry, discs, and the like. Some conventionalaspects of wireless relay eNodeB 500 are omitted for clarity, such aspower supplies, enclosures, and the like. When executed by processingcircuitry 503, software modules 506-510 direct circuitry 503 to performthe following operations.

Operating system 506 interfaces between software modules 507-510 and theeNodeB hardware (processing circuitry 503, data communication interface501, RAM, storage). Baseband applications 507 control user access RFprotocols for user devices. Networking applications 508 control networkRF protocols for network access. Load/Congestion detector 509 rankswireless relays by UE load and relay congestion. Threshold/Resourceassignment 510 assigns data thresholds and wireless resources towireless relays based on the respective UE load and relay congestionrankings.

The above description and associated figures teach the best mode of theinvention. The following claims specify the scope of the invention. Notethat some aspects of the best mode may not fall within the scope of theinvention as specified by the claims. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that the features described above can be combined in variousways to form multiple variations of the invention. Thus, the inventionis not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but only bythe following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a wireless access pointthat wirelessly exchanges user data with a Radio Access Network (RAN)that comprises multiple wireless relays that wirelessly exchange theuser data with multiple wireless user devices based on individual relaydata thresholds, the method comprising: the wireless access pointdetermining individual amounts of the wireless user devices served byindividual ones of the wireless relays and individual amounts of buffercongestion experienced by the individual ones of the wireless relays;the wireless access point ranking the wireless relays based on theindividual amounts of the wireless user devices and ranking the wirelessrelays based on the individual amounts of buffer congestion; thewireless access point assigning the individual relay data thresholds tothe wireless relays based on the ranking using the individual amounts ofwireless user devices wherein higher-loaded ones of the wireless relaysare assigned higher ones of the data thresholds than lower-loaded onesof the wireless relays, wherein the wireless relays wirelessly exchangeadditional user data with the wireless user devices based on theassigned relay data thresholds; and the wireless access point assigningindividual amounts of Secondary Component Carrier (SCC) resources to thewireless relays based on the ranking using the individual amounts ofbuffer congestion wherein higher-congested ones of the wireless relaysare assigned higher ones of the SCC resources than lower-congested onesof the wireless relays, wherein the wireless relays wirelessly exchangeadditional user data with the wireless user devices based on theassigned SCC resources.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the individualamounts of the wireless user devices served by individual ones of thewireless relays includes downstream ones of the wireless user devicesserved by downstream ones of the wireless relays.
 3. The method of claim1 wherein the individual amounts of the wireless user devices served bythe individual ones of the wireless relays comprises Radio ResourceControl (RRC) connections.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the SCCresources comprise a number of SCC resource blocks.
 5. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the SCC resources comprise an SCC-allocated wirelessbandwidth.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the SCC wireless resourcescomprise a number of Carrier Aggregation (CA) SCCs.
 7. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the wireless access point comprises a macrocell eNodeB.8. The method of claim 1 wherein the wireless relays each comprise aneNodeB and Relay Equipment (RE).
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein thewireless relays comprise picocell relays and femtocell relays.
 10. Awireless access point comprising: a wireless transceiver systemconfigured to wirelessly exchange user data with a Radio Access Network(RAN) that comprises multiple wireless relays that wirelessly exchangethe user data with multiple user communication devices based onindividual relay data thresholds; and a data processing systemconfigured to determine individual amounts of the wireless user devicesserved by individual ones of the wireless relays and individual amountsof buffer congestion experienced by the individual ones of the wirelessrelays, rank the wireless relays based on the individual amounts of thewireless user devices and ranking the wireless relays based on theindividual amounts of buffer congestion, assign the relay individualdata thresholds to the wireless relays based on the ranking using theindividual amounts of wireless user devices wherein higher-loaded onesof the wireless relays are assigned higher ones of the relay datathresholds than lower-loaded ones of the wireless relays, and whereinthe wireless relays wirelessly exchange additional user data with thewireless user devices based on the assigned relay data thresholds; andassign individual amounts of Secondary Component Carrier (SCC) resourcesto the wireless relays based on the ranking using the individual amountsof buffer congestion wherein higher-congested ones of the wirelessrelays are assigned higher ones of the SCC resources thanlower-congested ones of the wireless relays, and wherein the wirelessrelays wirelessly exchange additional user data with the wireless userdevices based on the assigned SCC resources.
 11. The wireless accesspoint of claim 10 wherein the individual amounts of the wireless userdevices served by individual ones of the wireless relays includedownstream ones of the wireless user devices served by downstream onesof the wireless relays.
 12. The wireless access point of claim 10wherein the individual amounts of the wireless user devices served bythe individual ones of the wireless relays comprises Radio ResourceControl (RRC) connections.
 13. The wireless access point of claim 10wherein the SCC resources comprise a number of SCC resource blocks. 14.The wireless access point of claim 10 wherein the SCC resources comprisean SCC allocated wireless bandwidth.
 15. The wireless access point ofclaim 10 wherein the SCC resources comprise a number of CarrierAggregation (CA) SCCs component.
 16. The wireless access point of claim10 wherein the wireless access point comprises a macrocell eNodeB. 17.The wireless access point of claim 10 wherein the wireless relays eachcomprise an eNodeB and Relay Equipment (RE).
 18. The wireless accesspoint of claim 10 wherein the wireless relays comprise picocell relaysand femtocell relays.